Firearms carrier mechanism



y 1959 v s. K. JANSON EIAL 2,887,808

FIREARMS CARRIER MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 24, 1957 F IG 3 INVENTOR.

' STEFAN KJANSON.

ROLF H. WILD' HOWARD EL ELLIOTT a/xsmv May 26, 1-959 '5. K. JANSON ET AL 2,887,803

FIREARMS CARRIER MECHANISM Filed April 24, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. STEFAN K. JANSON ROLF H. WILD HOWARD E. ELLIOTT Patented May 26, 1959" 3 Claims. (CI. 42-17) This'invention relates to automatic firearms and the like .andin particular to suchweapons having a tubular magazine disposed below a barrel and provided with a hinged carrier mechanism adapted to' lift cartridges emerging from the magazine into the path of a forwardly movingbolt to chamber the cartridge. A firearm of the above general type is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 2,509,382 issued to D. M. Williams. i

Shotguns fall in the above general class of'firearms and have a carrier mechanism which, in the normal position, is in alignment with the magazine. Shotshells are fed singly and cyclically from the magazine to thecarrier by the action of a suitable cut-off device. Upon reception of each shell the carrier is carted upwardly lifting the shell into the path of a slidable bolt while the bolt is returning to a closed or battery position after a previous dischargeof the weapon. On its closing stroke the bolt picks up the "shell lifted by the carrier mechanismand drives the shell forwardly into the chamber of the gun.

In well-known arrangements of the above described carrier mechanism means are provided for locking the carrier in the normal position, i.e.,-the position wherein the carrier is in alignment with .the magazine and in. Usually condition to receive shells from the magazine. an external device such as a push button is provided ,in the receiver for releasing the carrier so that it may be depressedo'r moved out of alignment with respect to the magazine to permit loading of the magazine through the receiver.

The provision of push buttons or other similar ar-' rangements for releasing the carrier to permit loading the magazine are cumbersome and frequently present difficulty to the sportsman in cold weather or while gloves are worn. It is exceedingly difficult to hold the gun,

depress the button and thereafter depress the unlocked carrier to introduce new shells into the magazine through the receiver. I

Ace'ordi'ngly,-i t' is an object of the'pres ent invention to provide a novel articulated carrier mechanism effective to uncover the magazine of the firearm to permit reloading thereof simply upon manual movement of a portion of the carrier;

It is -a further object of the invention to provide-a carrier. mechanism for an automatic firearm operable at. all times to uncover the magazine for loading 'by merely pressing a cartridge upon the carrier at theunderside of the receiver, all other exterior latches or push buttons having been eliminated. V

a -still further object of the invention is the provision ofa carrier mechanism which is operable independently of the cut-off device.

A firearm embodying certain features of the present invention may comprise a receiver, a magazine, a carrier pivotally mounted to the receiver and having a body thereceiver and the body, said carrier being movable as dispds'ed in a position closing said magazine to the atmos portion and a tray, said tray being movable relative. to

a"uni tary'assembly relative to the recewer'and normally.

plhere, a latch means mounted to the firearm and normally adapted to block motion of the body, said tray being manually movable into the receiver and adapted to engage and unlock said latch whereby the magazine 5 is; opened to the atmosphere and the body is unblocked.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the succeeding specification and drawings in which: a

,.Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the receiver portion of an automatic shotgun with which the principles of the present invention may be associated with certain parts thereof broken away for clarity;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a shotshell chambered and the bolt locked;

Fig. 3 is a planview of a portion of Fig. 2, as viewed in .the plane of line 33; portions of the latch are broken away to show the disposition of certain interlocking lugs;

Fig.- 4 is a showing similar to Figs. 1 and 2 and is illustrative of thedisposition of the bolt and carrier mechanism when the bolt is locked open and at the instant at which the bolt is released having begun its forward travel to ram a shell into the chamber; and,

Fig. 5" is a perspective view of the latch of the present invention. r

5 Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown .a barrel :11 vdisposed within a receiver 12. The receiver carries a magazine 13 and a trigger guard 14. A bolt 16 is carried by a bolt slide 18 in turn slidably mounted in the receiver and actuated by a gas piston not shown.

A shotshell 19 is shown disposed in the magazine 13 and is constantly urged to the leftas viewed in Fig. l by a coil spring at the forward end of the magazine and is retained by a cut-off 21 in conventional manner. A carrier mechanism, indicated by the reference numeral 22,'inc lud es a body portion 23 pivotally mounted-to the receiverby a pin- 24 and a forward element referred to hereinafteras a tray 26.. The body 23 and the tray.2 6, hinged byyapin 27, are relatively movable. A spring 28, istutilized incooperation with a lip 29 formed on the body member to retain the. tray and body member in ,t he relative position shown,v in solid lines in Figs. 1

and2.

,ln; amann er which will become more apparent herein-v after,'- t he tray 26 .is movable upwardly, as indicatedby the dotted linesshown in Fig. 1, to. expose the magazine to the atrnosphiere; whereupon-shelis-ZS may befed di- 1 rectly to, themagazinethrough the receiver. v

The left end of the body 23 carries a pawl 31 constantlybcaring rupon aspring pressed plunger 32. The

lunger :tends to rotate the pawl in a clockwise direction u ritil f ce 30 thereof engages a corresponding notch 33 I formed n zthe carrier body. 4 v he paw c 'nsidered part of the carrier rnechanism,- isutili-zed to engage a notch 36 formed in the underside offth e b olt slid e518 and when overrun by the slide, as, ,.,,.,snwi1 ig. 1, a. projection 37 of the pawl is effective anarock the bolt and its slide in the open, positiontFig. 1).. v I

"Ifhe'-bolt,is-- unlocked and free to travel to the right "50 as gviewed-in the-drawings Whenever the rearend of the carrie'r mechanism carrying the pawl 31. is permitted: to drop downwardly or to rotate counterclockwise aboutthe gInthat event,-.the carrierrnechanism assumes the posi-ltionshown in solid'lines in Fig. 4 wherein the projecition 37 of the pawl 31 has dropped out of the notch 36" of the bolt slide and the bolt is free to move to the right?"Correspondingly, the forward 'end of the carriermechanism;specificallythelipw and the tray 26, have moved to t hexsolidiline position'shown in Fig. 4 to-pre-"f sent a' shell *to the-face of th'e bolt. 'Upon'contifiue'd forward motion of the bolt, the shell will be chambered,

as shown in Fig. 2. 7 Note that after the bolt is closed, the earner mecha- -nism is rotatedclockwise by the, plunger 32 and the tray 26 assumes its normal alignmentwith respectto the mega zine.

To look the carrier mechanism against counterclock-= of opposed lugs 43 formed on the latch 41 constantly bear upon the end faces 44 of the sidewalls 46 of the wise rotation at all times, except when a shell iszdisposed 7 upon the tray or when the tray is moved upwardly to load the magazine, the illustrated'embodiment of the present invention includes a releasableretainihg means such as a latch, indicated generally by the reference nu moral 41, pivotally mounted upon'the receiver by a p n It is noted that the carrier body 23 straddles the latch 41; and also straddles the tray 26 as is apparent in Figs. 1, 2 and 4.

The latch 41 (Fig. 5) is formed with a pair of opposed lugs 43adapted to be engaged by corresponding end faces 44 of sidewalls 46 of the tray-26 and with a second pair of opposed lugs 47 normally disposed over and pro- I 'jecting outwardlyabove a corresponding pair of opposed,

inwardly projecting ears -48'formed integral with the body- I 23 (Fig, 2

The: latch, held in its normal position with the lugs 43 hearing upon'end faces -44 by:a.spring"51 (Fig. 3) is also provided with a pair of forwardly projecting lugs 49 adapted to engage the head of a shotshell in the manner shown in Fig. 4. I I I The latch is effective to lock the carrier body 23 against rotation or against motion from the position shown in tray, rotation of the tray acts to. move the latch out of blocking position to the position shown in dotted lines.

In this position (Fig. 1), note that latch lugs 47 are clear of ears 48 freeing the, carrier body for counterclockwise rotation. depression of; the tray 26,, but. in any event. the magazine is uncovered to atmosphere whereupon the shooter may readily insert additional rounds into the magazine.

It is to be distinctly understood that the magazine of the present invention is normally covered or enclosedby the tray 26, nevertheless, in any position of the bolt the I shooter is. free. to. place additional shells; into the magazine merely upon manual upward movement of the forward end of the tray 26. Access to the magazine is not hindered by the position of the bolt cut-01f or other instrumentality but is gained: simply by manipulating the tray 26. I It isanticipated that various embodiments of the. present invention may be devised beyond'the embodiment dis.-

closed herein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof; For example, the latch means mounting may be reversed wherein the. latch may be mounted upon the dotted lines inFi'g. 4 to the solid line position show therein.

The carrier body'23 is locked because the opposed lugs 47 of the latch are positioned; over the inwardly project ing cars 48 (Fig. 2) of the body and thus the right end of the body cannotmove upwardly.

--In normaloperation .of the weapon, the body 23' is" normally locked so that the tray 26 is in alignment with I the magazine and in a position to receive a shell from the magazine After a round has been fired, the bolt and the bolt slide move to the rear to the position (Fig; 1) and the spent case is ejected. As the bolt and the,

slide approach the rearmost position, the cut-01f is actuated, in a well-known manner, to release a shell from the magazine to the tray 26. Thereafter when the bolt and the slide begin their forward travel, the projection 37' formed on the pawl 31 engages the notch 36 of the slide. This occurrence locks the bolt and the slide in the rear position since the carrier is locked against counterclockwise rotation by the latch 41 as shown in solid lines in Fig. 1.

Since the shell is spring pressed within the magazine it moves rearwardly alongthe tray until the head thereof strikes the forwardly projecting latch lugs 49,, thrust ing the latch counterclockwise or to the solid line position shown in Fig. 4.

Upon the occurrence of rotation of the latch 41 by the shell discharged from the magazine, the carrier body 23 is unlocked and free to rotate to the solid line posi-:

tion of Fig. 4, releasing the bolt. Simultaneouslyjthe forward end of the carrier mechanism or the tray presents the shell to the forward face of the released bolt permitting the bolt to drive the shell into the chamber in well known fashion. 1

When the new shell is chambered, the disposition of the various elements of the carrier mechanism are as shown in Fig. 2 wherein the body returns to its locked condition, the lugs 47 having returned to a dition with respect to the cars 48. t

The carrier body may be unlocked by another oc-. currence; namely, the manual upward movement ofthe tray 26 by placing a shell thereagainst whereuponthetray 26 moves from the, sqlid, line position in 1,- through the dotted line pos tion. S nce the lowe pe r blocking coni carrier and engage the receiver in lieu of being mounted. upon the receiver and engage the carrier.

Whatis claimed is:

1. In an automatic firearm comprising a barrel, a

magazine and a receiver, said receiver being free of depressible buttons, :1 carrier for receiving cartridges from the, magazine and transferring cartridgesto the barrel comprising, a rear operating element pivotally mountedto the. receiver, said receiver having a magazine.

loading port providing access. to the magazine,said' car- I 'r-ier being movable from a position in which cartridges,

' are received from the magazineto. a position from which cartridges are transferred to the barrel,; a latch pivot- I ally mounted to the receiver and having a first lug operable .to engage and lock the rear operating element, of

the carrier in a position corresponding to thecartridge receiving, position, said. latch having a. second lug; and

loading port providing access to the magazine, said; carrier being movable from a position in which cartridges r received from the magazine toa position from which, cartridges,- re. transferred to, the. barrel, a latch pivotally mounted, to the. receiver and. operable. to engage and: retain the rear operating element of the carrier inJ aposi-- tion, corresponding to a. cartridge receivingposition, said latch. having at least twolatch; Beleasinglugs and a cara tridgecarrying element pivotally mounted to said rean element and. manually movable relativethereto, said cartridge; carrying element being formed. with a. projection operative to engage one of said lugs to move the latch thus: freeing said rear element for rotation away from said cartridge receiving position, the other lug being operative to move the latch when engaged by the head of-a cartridge.

3. In an automatic firearm including a tubular mega: zine, a, receiver and a: reciprocating, bolt, within the receiver. f, the. type where the bolt. remains, in theope'n position, after. firing. the last shell. contained, in. themagazine said, receiver being free of'push, buttons,.an article;

The bolt is also unlocked during lated carrier Pivotally mounted p the receiver 311d and having an end face operable to engage a third lug including a body portion, a latch pivotally mounted upon of said latch effective to unlock the body portion whereby the receiver, said latch being formed with at least three the "bolt is released.

lugs, one lug being operative to engage the head of a shotshel'l, a second lug being directly engageable with 5 References Cited in the file Of this Patent the body portion and operable to lock said portion, pawl UNITED STATES PATENTS means pivotally mounted upon the carrier and operable to engage and lock the bolt means in the open position 2604713 Browmng July 1952 when said body is locked by the latch and a shotshell 2765557 Roper 1956 receiving tray pivotally mounted upon the body portion 10 

